BEIJING -- Over 1.18 billion Chinese people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission said at a press conference on Dec 18.

A total of 2.66 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered as of Friday, said Mi Feng.

"China is meeting the growing pressures of guarding against inbound cases, with a total of 77 countries and regions having reported cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19," Mi added.

As the New Year's Day and the Spring Festival draw near, China will continue its efforts on targeted prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, said He Qinghua, a senior official with the commission.

Negative nucleic acid test results within the past 48 hours and health code verifications are still required as permits for daily errands, He added.